Muffuletta Sandwich

Makes 1 large muffuletta that serves 1 - 8 people.

Ingredients

bread - !! TAKES 3 DAYS TO MAKE !!
- starter
1/2 cup water
1 cup King Arthur® All-Purpose Flour
1/8 teaspoon SAF Red Instant® Yeast
- dough
All of the starter
3 1/2 cups King Arthur® All-Purpose Flour
1 cup water ... maybe a little more to get all the flour mixed in.
1 1/2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal® Kosher Salt
1/4 teaspoon SAF Red Instant® Yeast
- glaze
1 large egg
1 tablespoon water
toasted sesame seeds
olive tapenade
1 shallot, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
10 oz jar Mezzetta® Super Colossal Spanish Queen Olives, drained and chopped
6 oz can Hy-Vee® Large Ripe Pitted Olives, drained and chopped
~1/3 cup California Olive Ranch® Extra Virgin Olive Oil
3 tablespoons Jeff’s Garden® Imported Non-Pareil Capers, drained and minced
2 tablespoons Jeff’s Garden® Hot Cherry Peppers, minced
2 tablespoons Colavita® Red Wine Vinegar
5 tablespoons parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon oregano, chopped
juice of 1/2 lemon
Diamond Crystal® Kosher Salt and ground pepper, to taste
sandwich
1/4 pound sliced genoa salami
1/4 pound sliced capicola ham
1/4 pound sliced mortadella
1/4 pound sliced smoked ham
1/4 pound sliced mozzarella cheese
1/4 pound sliced provolone cheese
ripe tomato, thin sliced
iceberg lettuce, rough chopped

Instructions

bread
To make the starter: Mix the starter ingredients together until smooth, cover, and let rest at room temperature overnight.

To make the dough: Mix and knead all of the ingredients together — I use a mixer, but could do by hand — to make a soft, somewhat smooth dough. It should be cohesive, but the surface should still be a bit rough.

Allow the dough to rise, covered in a bowl with plastic wrap, for a total of 3 hours, gently deflating it and turning it over after 1 hour, and then again after 2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Shape the dough into a 10 inch round, making it as smooth and evenly round as possible.

Place the dough on a baking sheet - I put it on parchment paper, cover it gently but fully with lightly greased plastic wrap, and set it in the refrigerator to rest and rise overnight.

Next day, remove the loaf from the refrigerator, and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes, still covered, while you preheat your oven to 425°F.

To make the glaze: Whisk together the egg white and water.

To bake the bread: Brush the top of the loaf with the glaze, and sprinkle it heavily with sesame seeds.

Bake the loaf for 25 to 30 minutes, until it's a deep, golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and cool on a wire rack.

olive tapenade
Mix all together and add any of the ingredients more or less to get the taste you like. You want the tapenade to be a little liquid/oily to soak into the bread, but too much will make it soggy. I tend to go a little dryer then more liquid.

It’s best to make the tapenade a day in advance and let it sit in the fridge.

sandwich assembly
Cut the fully cooled loaf in half across its equator, so you have two large 10" rounds. I take some of the dough out to reduce the bread and have room for the filling but leaving about an 1/2 inch on top and bottom. I also leave about 1 inch from the sides

Spread 3/4 the olive tapenade onto the bottom round, then the remaining 1/4 on the top layer. Layer on the ham, salami, provolone, capicola, mortadella and mozzarella cheese then tomatoes and lettuce.

Cover with the top round, and wrap tightly in aluminum foil (or plastic wrap). Weigh the muffuletta down with something heavy (cast iron pan filled with pie weights or a pie pan with a brick), and let it rest at cool in the fridge until ready to eat or at least an hour or so.

Unwrap and cut it into wedges.

Notes

• Bread takes 3 days to make. If pressed for time use a loaf of Italian bread. Really any larger loaf of good somewhat crusty bread.
• I didn't use all of the meats and cheeses, just depending on how much of each you want.
• If you look online for a muffuletta olive mix, some folks put in peppers or cauliflower. I don't... just want to keep it simple and bring out the olives.
• You can use kalamata olives, but I prefer to use plain store bought canned black olives. They are firmer and have more flavor.
• I hand chop the olives and other tapenade ingredients. I find using a food processor makes the texture too fine. Time to practice your knife skills, have a sharp knife, fingers in and go slow.

I DO NOT get any compensation, free stuff or acknowledgment for mentioning, using or linking to any specific products mentioned. They are for my reference only. Any product or ingredient in the recipe can be substituted with what you have available, a regional favorite or what you find delicious.